Parkdale Pods: Mutual Aid Network

Parkdale People's EconomyGeneral

The Parkdale People’s Economy has been supporting Mutual Aid Parkdale (M.A.P.) with self-organizing mutual aid networks in Parkdale to build strong connections with neighbours during the outbreak of COVID-19. We know that many of our neighbours are disproportionately impacted by social distancing due to housing insecurity, mental health, poverty, precarious work, and lack of access to affordable food and resources. We want to ensure that isolated and vulnerable community members have support networks and solidarity during these difficult times. 

Neighbourhood Pods are hyperlocal text message groups or phone trees of you and your neighbours. Since not everyone has access to online communication or will ever see these google docs, neighbourhood pods are how we reach more people through calling and texting our neighbours. We are asking for community members to sign up as Pod Leaders, where you would take on the responsibility of:

  • Reaching out to your neighbours over the phone or online.
  • Checking in on what needs are arising on your block, building, or community.
  • Coordinating and moderating a neighbourhood group chat or phone tree.
  • Staying in touch with other pod leaders for resource pooling and sharing.

If you have the capacity to take on this role, or are already fulfilling this role through a pre-existing network, please fill out the Pod Leader survey. We encourage groups to self-organize and pool resources, and will be providing back-end resource support to neighbourhood pods, such as coordination support, food delivery, and financial supports. This is an emergent process, and we will continue to provide updates!

To learn more, please review the following documents:

Please note that we adapted the resources for creating ‘Neighbourhood Pods’ from Mutual Aid Medford and Summerville and encourage other neighbourhoods to do the same! 

If you have any questions, comments or suggestions, please contact mutualaidparkdale@gmail.com for more information.

བོད་སྐད་ཐོག་ནས་རོགས་རམ་དགོས་ཚེ་༼647-771-8702 ༽ ལ་འབྲེལ་བ་གནང་རོགས། 

Kung Kailangan mo ng tulong sa salitang Tagalog, tumawag sa 416-633-5056

यदि तपाईंलाई नेपाली भाषामा सहयोग चाहिन्छ भने 647-836-9578 मा कृपया सम्पर्क गर्नुहोस।

Join a Parkdale Pod! Mutual Aid Parkdale has over 20 active pods. Visit our map to find the Pod closest to you and reach out to connect with your neighbours! If your block does not have a Pod, please sign up to become a Pod Leader!